Knock Knock

A knock at the front door around 8.30pm on Friday night, made daughter peer through the window, and exclaim softly, “Guess who is at the front door?”

“Who?”

NL! (her friend)

I said “really?”

Unexpectedly? Without calling? At this hour? Questions flashed through my mind at lightening speed. Did the friend run away from home? Does she want to stay here? Those thoughts should be pardoned you know. I have my reasons.

After initial questions raced through my mind, it then went on a tangent, while daughter went to answer the door. My mind does that a lot…. wandering that is…… If there was a prize for wandering minds, I would win hands down, no doubt about that.

Mind drifted back to good many years ago, to another night and another unexpected knock at the door.

Daughter was still at primary school, when one of her little friends from school knocked on our door around 8 o’clock at night. I answered to find daughter’s friend Cassie at the door. I said “er…hello there”, and peered towards the darken street to see if there was a car and her mother” The sort of things our brains instinctively process as pertaining to the circumstance. Nope, no car to be seen.

“Can I speak to X”

“Certainly Cassie, come in”

They spoke for awhile, my daughter and her friend, then daughter came to me “Mummy Cassie ran away from home and wants to know if she could stay here”

I was dumbstruck, that is putting it mildly……but managed to ask a few questions after regaining my composure. As it turned out, Cassie and her mother, a single parent, had a row and she simply ran away—-to our house!—Retrospect, I am glad she came to our house and not just walked off to who knows where. Funny thing was the mother didn’t budge or panic the time daughter was gone. Some mothers!

I explained to my daughter “Cassie is welcome to stay but I can’t just keep her here if she ran away from home. I have to inform her mother, as to her daughters’ whereabouts ” By this time Cassie was slowly moving closer, to listen to our conversation, perhaps to see if it was okay by me if she stayed. I felt for the kid, I really did.

I had a chat with Cassie and explained how things operated in the adult world, so to speak. That she is welcomed to stay but I have a responsibility to inform her mother that her daughter is safe, and asked if that is alright with her if I phoned her mother. (I didn’t know what she ran away from or how grave the situation was at home so didn’t want to stress her unduly).The poor kid no doubt confused and scared by now, just nodded.

(If a thought sprung to your mind while reading, “what would you (me) have done if the child implored you not to call?” Then I simply wouldn’t have called! Though I would have called police instead.)

Anyway, as it turned out with no objection from Cassie, I phoned the darned woman whom I know, won’t win ‘mother of the year’ award. Every mother in school knew what an unsavoury, lazy slob she was. Pardon my criticism. I couldn’t stand the woman back then, not many people could. Anyway…..

When I informed the mother, her distressed daughter was at our place, the woman said in nonchalant voice “oh, so that is where she went?” “ok I’ll come get her”

Anyway back to déjà vu on Friday night, I peeked and saw daughter still outside talking to her friend.

When daughter came back in the house, I asked “…and?”

“Oh N wants me to come to her house and watch some movies. J and L are in the car too”.

Silly me!

I have to move on with the times —Not only is my daughter all grown up, so are all her friends. — Majority of them are living independently in their own place or at uni residences and driving their own cars.

It would’ve been very odd if this particular friend ran away from home as she has her own living quarters in her parents’ house 🙂